Three-dimensional calculation of inhomogeneous structure in low-density nuclear matter

TL;DR

This paper presents a fully three-dimensional calculation of nuclear pasta structures in low-density nuclear matter, revealing differences in density regions for various pasta configurations using relativistic mean-field and Thomas-Fermi models.

Contribution

It introduces a 3D calculation approach for nuclear pasta structures, moving beyond traditional Wigner-Seitz approximations, with detailed density region analysis.

Findings

Observation of typical pasta structures in 3D calculations

Differences in density regions for each pasta structure

Validation of pasta structures with relativistic models

Abstract

In low-density nuclear matter which is relevant to the crust region of neutron stars and collapsing stage of supernovae, non-uniform structures called "nuclear pasta" are expected. So far, most works on nuclear pasta have used the Wigner-Seitz cell approximation with anzats about the geometrical structures like droplet, rod, slab and so on. We perform fully three-dimensional calculation of non-uniform nuclear matter for some cases with fixed proton ratios and in beta-equilibrium based on the relativistic mean-field model and the Thomas-Fermi approximation. In our calculation typical pasta structures are observed. However, there appears some difference in the density region of each pasta structure.